PRESS DIGEST- Canada - Nov 13

Nov 13 The following are the top stories from
selected Canadian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these
stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

* The Conservative government will squeeze public-service
salaries and sell off government assets to enter the next
federal election with a budget surplus of at least $3.7 billion,
paving the way for promised big-ticket tax cuts. ()

* Ontario is looking to clamp down on tax-dodging
corporations, reform its system of credits and drag the black
market into the light of day - all in a bid to raise more
revenue. ()

Reports in the business section:

* The U.S. oil boom will vault the country into first place
among crude producers within two years, the International Energy
Agency says, which will pose a stiff challenge for the Canadian
energy industry as it faces rapidly declining American demand
for imported oil. ()

* Canada's finance minister Jim Flaherty says he'll
intervene in the housing market for a fifth time, if that's
what's needed, to head off any bubble. Canada's housing market
is seen by some groups as among the frothiest in the world,
though most economists do not expect a U.S.-style meltdown.()

NATIONAL POST

* Ottawa has earmarked $2.8 billion to pay for Alberta's
flood recovery costs. Federal Employment Minister Jason Kenney
says the amount is less than the $3.1 billion Alberta had asked
for following the devastating floods that hit southern Alberta
in June. ()

* Members of Canada's top court directed sharp questions at
federal lawyers Tuesday about whether the Harper government can
unilaterally change the Senate and thus alter Canada's
democratic landscape. ()

FINANCIAL POST

* The Chinese state-owned firm CNOOC Ltd has
plunked down $12 million with the British Columbia government to
secure land for a potential gas plant on Canada's West Coast,
in the latest move by a state-owned energy company doubling down
on the province's gas resources. ()

* The Canadian Secured Credit Facility, one of Ottawa's
responses to the credit crisis, may be the most financially
successful government program in recent history. The reason:
every penny of capital that was provided has now been repaid and
the government received market interest rates along the way. ()

WASHINGTON, Dec 9 Aetna Inc's chief
executive denied on Friday that its withdrawal from some
Obamacare exchanges was in retaliation for government efforts to
halt its merger with Humana Inc, as he sought to
convince a federal judge to approve the deal.

LOS ANGELES, Dec 9 President-elect Donald Trump
will remain an executive producer on the reality TV show
"Celebrity Apprentice," new host Arnold Schwarzenegger said on
Friday, defending the situation as similar to his own
transitions between politics and entertainment.

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